Not so Unlikely After All
by Mtoto
Summary: Do you know those people who are annoyingly happy, clearly just because they have no idea what's going on around them? I used to be one of them. For the first 15 years of my life I lived in a blissful oblivion, and man did I love it. Life was a laugh, everything was simple. Then it all got complicated. Ugh. Feelings suck. Sirius Black sucks, too. It's all his fault, after all.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, expect a long Author's Note coming up.**

 **So I started writing this story ten years ago, but never finished it. After rediscovering Harry Potter fan fiction just now, I figured I'd give it a go again. I had, after all, planned the story all the way to the bitter end and I do still actually like it. What I soon realized was that 16-year-old me was a sucky writer, and the thing was not only written in very bad English, but also full of inconsistencies. So instead of just picking up where I left on, I'm going to write the whole thing again.**

 **What's the point of all this babbling? There are two: 1. Don't be alarmed if you realise you've read this all before because I did indeed publish it here in 2006. It doesn't exist anymore, thankfully. And 2. Because I did have my moments in high school, I'm leaving some of it untouched. It's a whole lot of copy-pasting, so don't hesitate to point out if it gets confusing.**

 **Don't hesitate to point out any the other mistakes I'm making, either. I'm not exactly new here, but a lot has changed in ten years.**

 **Now I'm done. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

I cursed loudly as I checked the clock on the wall of the subway station. 30 minutes. I had 30 sad little minutes before the train to Hogwarts would leave, with or without me inside. I peeked into the tunnel again, wishing for the headlights of the next train to appear. Still nothing. I let out another string of M-rated words. Stupid mother.

 _"Sure we can let Andy go to London and get herself to the train alone. What would be the harm in that?"_

Well, mommy dearest, let's start with the fact that Andy is a careless, easily distracted screw-up, who would get lost inside her own pocket if she were able to fit her thick head in there.

How do I know? I'm Andy.

For the past four years my parents had, like everybody else's, brought me to London and seen that I got on the train safe and sound. This year, however, both my brother's and my parents' summer vacation had ended before mine, and making the trip from Zilina to London had seemed redundantly difficult, not to mention expensive. So my mother had come up with the wonderful idea of me flying to London alone.

My father had opposed it –"What if she gets lost? What if she misses the train? What if something happens to her?" – and I had wanted to scream that I agreed with him; there's no way I'd be able to find my way to the station without trouble. But as much as I was aware of being a screw-up, I was also ridiculously stubborn. And if my mom thought I was going to make it to the station alone, then damn it I was going to make it. I wasn't a baby anymore, after all. A 15-year-old should be able to get through a little trip like this on her own.

And I had. For most of it, everything had gone very smoothly. I'd gotten my luggage through the security –despite the suspicious magical objects in them- and I'd made it to London. I'd even been able to find my way to the city center without getting lost even once!

And then there was a sale in a candy store.

Like a stupid little puppy I'd followed the signs, gotten lost and ended up in this godforsaken part of town where the subway only ran once a decade. And I was going to miss the train. All because of a few liquorice wheels.

I was just about to sink into a state of self-pity there would be no coming back from, when I noticed, finally the subway speeding towards the station. I made a little whoop of joy before rushing to the doors. Once inside I checked the clock again. I still had time.

I arrived King's Cross exactly three minutes before the train was supposed to leave. Grabbing the nearest trolley I could find, I took off in a sprint my Muggle soccer coach would be proud of. I managed to find the platform 9 and 3 quarters with relatively little hustle. I only knocked down one old lady on my way, and even she bounced back quite quickly. I think.

I breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of the train still there. That relief didn't last long, however, when I at that moment heard the whistle pierce the air. I grabbed my things, once again grateful I didn't own enough clothes for the trunk to be overly heavy, and ran towards the nearest open door.

I jumped in, trunk and all in tow. And landed smack on a human body.

My trunk was knocked out of my hands as the person I'd charged fell down, me on top of him. I realized it was indeed a him, from their strong build and hard chest that I was currently lying on top of. As obviously embarrassing as my current situation was, for a second there I was also kind of proud of myself, for being able to knock down a person so much bigger than my small 5-foot frame. Until that person spoke.

"Miss me this much during the summer, Dacres?"

Okay, not proud anymore. Just my luck, why couldn't I have landed on a harmless Hufflepuff?

"Very funny, Black," I grumbled, moving my face away from his chest so that I could speak. Then, because I had after all just bulldozed him possibly painfully to the floor, I glanced up at him apologetically. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

He smirked. I blushed. Annoying.

"Extremely. You?"

I didn't have time to answer before a voice made us both turn our heads.

"Andy? What's going on?" Zoey looked confused and amused at the same time.

I realized I was still lying on top of Black, and scrambled back as quickly as possible, bumping my head against the door handle behind me in the process. Black barked out a laugh and I sent him a scowl. He brushed it off with another cocky smirk. Did I mention, annoying?

Instead of focusing on that, though, I turned my attention back to my friend.

"Nothing," I said, finally picking myself up from the floor. "Zoey!" I exclaimed, as if having just really seen her, and jumped to give her a huge bear-hug. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she laughed, hugging me back. "Missed your clumsy butt, though. What happened here?" She added the last bit with a lowered voice so that Black, who was still sitting on the floor, watching us exchange greetings, wouldn't hear.

"Later," I mumbled. "Where's Lily?"

"Other end of the train. We took off to find you, thought you'd get lost again or something, but apparently Black beat us to it."

Black, at the mention of his name, did a salute and said, "At your service, ladies. " Then he got up from the floor and brushed past us with another grin on his face. "Nice bumping into you, Dacres. Looking good, Frost," he winked at the both of us on his way out.

Zoey and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes in unison. Sirius Black was a notorious playboy –a confusing title for a 15-year-old, I know– who was, both to our amusement and annoyance, in our year and house. He was a nice dude, in his own way, but also ridiculously good-looking and not afraid to use that trait to his advantage. Your best bet with Black was not to take anything he said seriously. Otherwise you were bound to end up fooled.

"He was right about one thing, though," I said to Zoey as we took off to find our other friend. "You do look good."

And she did. Zoey was another one of those people who probably could've pulled off arrogance matching Black's, merely because of her looks. She was extremely tall, with short black hair and deep brown eyes and now, as a result of the previous summer, also a tanned skin. But luckily her good looks were the only thing she had in common with Black, because Zoey was a cool, humble and loyal –yet often also brutally honest– friend.

"Thanks," she smiled.

We found Lily in a hallway next to an empty compartment. I tackle-hugged the redhead much like I'd done to Zoey, and a few moments later we were already deep in conversation about our past summers, and the upcoming year in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As I doubled over on the floor in laughter for the umpteenth time, I realized something I always knew but never let myself think about too much during the summer. I'd really missed my friends.

"So, OWL-year," Lily said, once our conversation had taken a more serious turn.

I groaned at the mention of the big exams that would wait for us in the end of this year.

"Don't even mention that," I moaned, in physical pain at the mere thought of the things.

"Sorry," Lily grinned apologetically.

"You think you'll have hard time with them?" Zoey asked, she, too, for once looking sympathetic, something she only reserved for special occasions.

"I think I'll fail them," I grumbled.

"You know, Andy, I read something over the summer," Lily started. "I was reading Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions when I came across this chapter about, erm, mental stuff." She said the last part a bit hesitantly.

"Lily I'm not mentally ill," I rolled my eyes.

"I know, I know," she rushed to say. "My point is, there are magical cures to stuff Muggles can't do anything about. Andy I think you could get rid of your ADD with magic!"

I was shaking my head before she'd even finished talking.

"No."

Zoey and Lily didn't argue, but looked at me as if waiting for an explanation. I sighed.

"McGonagall suggested that when I first started at Hogwarts. Said it'd make things easier for me. But my mom refused, instantly, and now that I think about it I'm glad she did. I mean, who knows what kind of a dull dud I'd be without a hyperactive brain," I grinned, in a desperate need to put a positive spin to the conversation again.

"I agree," Zoey then said. "You wouldn't be you if you were normal," she grinned, too, to show she was kidding.

"Yeah I guess you're right," Lily smiled, too. "I just hate to see you struggle with the exams every year."

"Meh," I shrugged. "The exams aren't for another nine months. Let's worry about that when we get there." Really, I was sick of the topic.

I knew Lily meant well when she fussed over my –and, occasionally, Zoey's– studying. She was a perfect student herself, always making sure to do the work and achieve top grades. And while we did get annoyed at her nagging us from time to time, she also knew Zoey and I were incredibly grateful for her.

As for the ADD, the topic of a magical intervention had indeed been under discussion in my family. At first I'd thought it was just my Muggle parents being afraid of the unknown, but had soon realized it wasn't just –if at all– about that. I'd been diagnosed when I was very little. It'd become a part of who I am, and even if that part did have a habit of getting me in trouble from time to time, I wouldn't change it for the world.

For now Zoey and Lily just nodded, and the conversation quickly turned back to more positive things than exams, like the Welcome Feast, Sorting, and all the wonderful adventures we had waiting for us for the next year. Before we knew it, it was time to change into our school robes and head to the carriages waiting for us outside. We were walking in the slow line of students when Zoey suddenly turned to me.

"Hey Andy, you never told us. What was the deal with you and Black cuddling on the floor earlier?"

I was about to roll my eyes at her ridiculous way of describing the situation, when a voice came up behind me.

"Yeah, Andy, kinda rude to just ditch me like that after such an intense moment."

I looked up to see Black, once again grinning down at me. He tried to feign a hurt look but wasn't clearly even buying it himself, for he was already laughing. I rolled my eyes, but laughed, too. He might've been an arrogant asshole but there was no denying Black was also fun.

"Now you know how all those girls you've snogged and tossed feel," I shot back, extremely proud of my remark. Zoey extended her hand for a high-five, which I gladly gave her.

"Nice," another male voice commented next to Black.

I looked over to see James Potter grinning at his friend.

Potter was Black's best friend, and just as much of a troublemaker, and just as full of himself, too. Despite this, we'd actually become kind of friends. On our third year, Potter had come to me with a confession. He was head over heels in love with Lily, and he needed my help. That was two years ago and Lily still hated him, so I think it's needless to say I'd done pretty poor job. But, well, during the years at least we'd managed to get to know each other, so I guess he got my friendship as a sad consolation prize.

I high-fived Potter, too, and he laughed. Black seemed to take the hit laughing. If anything, he was probably proud of all the times he'd got to do the snogging and tossing.

"How was your summer, Potter?" I then asked the curly-haired boy.

"Missed me?" He grinned, patting me in the head. Something he'd been doing for years now for the mere reason of it annoying me. When I rolled my eyes he laughed. "It was pretty great, actually. How was… where are you from, again?"

I smacked him lightly in the head.

"Czechoslovakia, you moron," then added cheerfully. "It was great, couldn't have been better."

After this we all climbed into the carriages. Sat between Lily and Zoey, I watched the outlines of the castle silhouette in the horizon. It was good to be back.

* * *

 **The first one is short, but I'm still glad if you stuck 'till the end. Now let me know what you thought of it!**


	2. Chapter 2

The welcome feast was a blast, as always.

The Sorting itself was never that exciting for me. Being from a Muggle family, the last names of the first-graders rarely held any meaning to me, unless they had an older sibling in the school. So I didn't have any presumptions as to where the firstie in question was supposed to be put. There were a few surprises this year, as well, which were apparent from the 'whoosh' that went through the crowd after an unexpected decision, but all in all it was a pretty standard sorting.

The food, on the other hand, was never just standard. I always managed to forget during the summer just how good the food at Hogwarts was. Not that there was anything to complain about my mom's cooking, but the Hogwarts house elves were born master chefs. And, you know, they did have magic on their side. In any case, after stuffing my face as fast and as much as was humanly possible, I was dead tired. This seemed to be the case with my dorm mates, too, for all of us fell into our beds pretty much straight away.

* * *

You'd think, after having so many weeks of vacation and zero studying, that the lessons would feel at least a little fun for a while. You know, that it'd take a while to get sick of them? But no. It was like I'd never left. Don't get me wrong, I was as excited to learn magic as any young witch or wizard. It was the theory that I hated. And, sadly, before you got to do anything in practise, you first had to learn it in theory. Even more sadly for me, I rarely had the patience to learn it in theory, which meant that by the time we got to the practical part, I had already fallen off the wagon.

Right now I was being tortured with Potions theory by Professor Slughorn. I wasn't a fan of Potions. It was one of those subjects where precision mattered way too much. I wasn't a precise person. The fact that we had it with Slytherins didn't really help. I wasn't a fan of Slytherins, either, but then again what Gryffindor was.

At the moment, Slughhorn was talking about a weird stone. I think the stone was supposed to do something to an even weirder potion. I watched him, dully, resting my head on my crossed arms. Yawning loudly, I forced my eyes to stay open. I found it extremely unfair that we had lessons on our first day back. I couldn't have been the only one not to wake up before noon even once during the holidays. I'd managed to lose five points from my house for oversleeping and, consequently, being late, on our very first day.

I looked to my right, where I saw Lily lazily copying the words from the blackboard. On my left, Zoë was playing with her inkbottle, trying to make it spin. I caught her eye and we both looked at Lily and exchanged grins. Some things never change.

I gave up and closed my eyes, laying my head on my desk. I had staid in that position for only a few seconds, when I felt something hit my head. I turned around angrily and saw Black smirking smugly. I rolled my eyes. Brat. Always eager to get my payback, I threw him with what I thought was a ball of paper. Sirius quickly took out his wand and pointed it at the thing flying through the air. It was no ball of paper.

The inkbottle he'd exploded broke into a million pieces. The ink spread all over Severus Snape, who had unluckily been sitting between us. Black burst out laughing, as I slammed my hand over my mouth. Professor Slughorn stopped his teaching and shouted.

"Okay, WHOSE ink bottle was that? Mr Black?"

"It wasn't mine it was Dacres'!" Sirius said, still grinning happily. I spread my arms defensively.

"Well, I wasn't the one who blew it up!"

"Yeah, but you threw it at me!"

"Only because I thought it was a ball of paper!"

"You can't tell a difference between an ink bottle and a ball of paper?"

"Nah, shut up Black." I said, unable to figure anything smart to say anymore. He smirked triumphantly.

"Shut up BOTH of you. Detention. Each. Tonight. I will NOT allow that kind of behaviour in my class!" Slughorn shouted in front of the classroom. I opened my mouth to protest, but he pointed a finger at me.

"You say one word and I'll throw you out of this class."

I kept my mouth open, trying to figure whether it was worth it, and finally crossed my arms, just resigning to mutter `fuck` to Zoë, who chuckled not at all sympathetically. Slughorn was now collecting his stuff.

"Class dismissed. I'll see you two in this classroom tonight at six." He said, pointing at Black and me. I took my bag and turned to Sirius.

"Well, at least you took me down with you."

"Hey I wasn't gonna go to detention alone!" He said defensively.

I sighed. After all, I couldn't claim that I was innocent, so I guess I just, as they say, got what I deserved. So, on my very first day, in my very first lesson, I had managed to get myself into detention with Sirius Black. Way to go starting a new term, Andy.

* * *

So, when the hands of the big clock turned to six and twelve, I knocked on the door of our Potions class, well prepared for a two-hour detention accompanied by Sirius Black. I'd gotten rid of the school uniform, which I dearly hated. I didn't mind the robes or hats or any of that cool wizarding stuff. It was the skirts. I had a big problem with skirts. I might've been a bit of a tomboy. So, to make the detention as bearable as possible, I'd ditched the uniform for my faithful sweatpants, and a brown hoodie I'd stolen from my brother before I left for school this year.

Slughorn opened the door for me several seconds later and let me in with a grunt. As I walked in I saw no sign of Black anywhere. I assumed he was just late, which wouldn't be any news. But, well, you should never assume.

"Unfortunately Mr. Black won't be joining you today," Slughorn said. "I had to set forward his detention since he's suddenly become very ill. So, you're going to be alone tonight."

I snorted. If Sirius was sick I was a singing elephant. I should've been expecting something like this. It's just so very Sirius Black to get someone into detention with him and then decide not to show up. I didn't say anything, though. Ratting him out at this point wouldn't do any good, so I just nodded.

"Your job is simple: collect all these dirty jars, clean them, and put all the missing ingredients inside. You may leave whenever you're ready." Slughorn said.

My jaw dropped when I saw all the jars and the disgusting lumps inside them. Now I really wasn't a princess, despite my stupid real name –Anastasia, don't ask–, and had had my fair share of mud fights when I was younger. But the sight in front of me was something that would've made even the strongest of stomachs do an unpleasant cartwheel.

"Ew! There's no way you're gonna make me clean those things, Professor!" I exclaimed.

"Well, maybe you should have thought about it _before_ you started throwing ink bottles, Miss Dacres." Slughorn said and left the room.

I cursed him in my mind, as well as Black, for leaving me alone in this mess. Having no one to shout to, I kicked angrily at the shelving holding the jars. One of the jars fell from the shelf, and I only barely managed to catch it with my hands. I sat down and opened the lid. A rotten smell spread across the room and made me grimace. I looked at the green lump inside the jar and sighed. This should be really fun.

* * *

After two and a half hours of jar cleaning, I climbed up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. My hands were wrinkled from all the washing, and I had an unpleasant feeling the smell wouldn't leave for days. When I reached the common room I found Lily and Zoey sitting by the desk, Lily doing her homework and Zoey probably just bothering her. She waved when she saw me coming through the portrait hole.

"Thank God, you're here, Andy! Lily here has been doing that damn essay for ages. I don't know what happened to her, I though she was already giving up on her quest to Geekdom last spring." Zoë shook her head, defeated from what must've been several efforts to get Lily away from her book.

Lily looked like she hadn't seen or heard anything. I just laughed at them. I knew I should've been doing the essay, too. Unlike Zoey, I wouldn't be able to wing it five minutes before class.

"Anyway, how did your detention go with Black?" Zoey was asking,

I chuckled dryly. "Oh yeah, it was a blast. The jerk decided not to show up, so I spent two and a half hours in Slughorn's classroom cleaning muddy jars. Alone."

Zoey looked at me sympathetically. Slimy jars seemed be another one of those things she reserved her sympathies for. I sat on one of the chairs by the desk and looked at the pile of homework Lily was working on. I sighed.

"There's no way I'm gonna be able to do that tonight. I'm practically sleeping already so I guess I could go to bed."

Lily looked up from her book and grinned.

"That's what you get, running around trains and cuddling Sirius Black. Trouble."

I stuck out my tongue at her. To be honest, I was actually glad to hear the teasing tone of her voice. After the ink bottle incident, Lily had gone off on a rant about bullies and friends and bad influence. I did get where she was coming from -Lily was actually friends with Snape, for some unexplainable reason. But seeing as I had by no means intended the bottle to explode over anything, I wasn't ready to admit to bullying. Luckily she seemed to have accepted my explanation.

I then proceeded to climb up to my dormitory to see my good old soft bed waiting for me. I could bet I was asleep even before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

Next morning when I woke up I was surprised to see that nobody had left yet. Usually the dorm was empty when I got up; I was the worst morning person ever to set foot in this castle. But I guess since I had gone to bed last night at like 9, I was, for once, capable of waking up in the same hour as everybody else. I got up lazily, put on my robes and headed to downstairs with rest of the girls.

When we reached the common room we saw three guys lying on the couch. In addition to James Potter and Sirius Black, Remus Lupin was lounging in an armchair with his friends. This left the group of the infamous Marauders short only one member. Peter Pettigrew had probably overslept again. Yeah, I might've been lying. Pettigrew is the worst morning person to ever set foot in the castle.

The Marauders had quickly become a concept in the school. They were known as the troublemakers in Hogwarts. All four were in our year and house, which meant from time to time our lessons would turn from tedious to exciting in a matter of seconds. It made it hard to concentrate on studying, sometimes, but they were definitely fun to be around.

The group was led by Potter and Black, with Pettigrew sticking close to them like a friendly groupie. Lupin, the poor boy, was left to be the voice of reason in the group. A very sweet boy, he could often be seen trying to tone down Black and Potter's craziest ideas. Lack of support from their respective friends when it came to studying, had led Lupin and Lily becoming pretty good friends.

When the guys saw us coming, they waved and got up to walk to breakfast with us. I fell into step with Black, who was once again wearing a smirk that got you thinking you were somehow being mocked. After last night, it annoyed me.

"Had a good night, Dacres?"

I snorted at him and replied,

"It was pretty good, thanks for your concern, Black. Oh, and by the way," I added, "how 'bout next time when we have detention you show up too?" I hadn't forgotten the slimy jars last night, and even though his presence may not have made it any better, at least I would've had someone to talk to. Plus I just found the whole thing unfair.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," he said, still with that same annoying smirk, "I was just too sick to attend that thing."

I snorted, again, and mumbled, "You look pretty healthy now."

We reached the great hall, took our seats and started eating. I was extremely hungry as usual, and filled my mouth with everything I could reach. Zoey gave me a funny look, as always when I get too excited with food. I just shrugged it off, as always.

When we had finished our breakfasts, we headed to our first class of the day. Transfiguration. Not actually one of my favourite classes. Professor McGonagall, our Transfiguration teacher and the head of our house, didn't really like me. She used to say that when normal Gryffindors are brave, I was a daredevil. From my request she had elaborated on that, saying that I never knew when to shut my mouth, and was always trying to bend the rules. It usually led to her getting pretty mad at me.

When we got to the classroom, Lily went to sit next to Lupin to the front of the class, wand and quill ready for some serious studying. Zoey and I took our seats in the back of the class, with Black and Potter closely behind us.

"Who do you think is gonna be her victim this year?" I asked Zoey when we had sat down and McGonagall arrived. "I mean, she can't torture me anymore, she's been doing that for two years already!"

"You know, Andy, have you ever thought that maybe that's more on you than her?" Zoë laughed.

"Hey!" I said defensively. "Black is twice as bad as me and she never picks on him!"

"Yeah, well, the difference is that he still knows what's going on. You, poor thing, have no idea half of the time we are here." Zoë replied, still chuckling.

"Plus, you know, it helps being irresistible enough for teachers to ignore little flaws in your behaviour." A voice came behind me. I turned to see said Black shrug and grin smugly.

"Oh yeah, that's gotta be it," I replied sarcastically, "She doesn't like the way I look."

"If Mr Black and Ms Dacres would care to concentrate on the lesson we might be able to continue, don't you think?" McGonagall snapped from the front of the class. "Now tell me, Black, what does wizard space have to do with transfiguration?"

"That's easy. When transfiguring, the spare items of the object go into wizard space. An example would be an Animagus's clothes."

"Very well," McGonagall nodded approvingly, "How about you, Ms Dacres, can you tell me what a spell called Inanimatus Conjurus does?"

Here we go again, I thought, when I was opening my mouth like a fish, trying to figure out an answer to the question. I had no idea. I swear Black didn't listen to her anymore than I did, but somehow he managed to give a perfect answer. Leaving me the only stupid one. Again.

"Since you clearly, again, have, no idea what we are talking about, I'd suggest you paid attention, now, Ms Dacres." McGonagall snapped, turning back to the blackboard.

I cursed in my mind. I swear, if I had the same concentrating ability as everyone else, I wouldn't be so confused in every damn class. Stupid ADD.


	3. Chapter 3

The first two weeks of the term flew by amazingly fast. I guess it was mainly because nothing special happened during that time. The teachers went on and on about how extremely important our OWLs were. Every single lesson started with a nice lecture, and quite a few of them included significant looks towards certain students. I don't think I have to tell you that I was often one of them.

I really had decided to work more this semester, but I somehow managed to forget that decision every time a lesson started. Usually I was distracted by Zoë worrying about my health when studying, Black telling me the studious look didn't suit me, or Potter just inventing some stupid idea to spend the lesson. So it really wasn't my fault.

Another thing –a weird one, actually- to mention about these two weeks was that I had really started spending more time with Black and Potter. Zoë, Lily and I were eating with the Marauders almost every day, and during the lessons when Lily studied with Lupin and Pettigrew, the rest of us spent the hours talking and joking around. Like I had to admit to Zoë and Lily one day, when we were discussing this weird phenomenon: I even really enjoyed our little chats every now and again.

I woke up late one day, like every other day, and hurried downstairs for breakfast after quickly jumping into my school robes. I bumped into Pettigrew on my way down.

"Hey there, Pettigrew. Overslept again?" I asked, continuing my way to the great hall with him, since we were most likely heading to the same direction.

"Yeah, kind of." He said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, it looks like you and I have something in common, then."

He chuckled uncomfortably and neither of us said anything anymore. I really think this guy is either uncomfortable or nervous half of his life. I mean, even when I, someone who's even smaller than he is, am trying to create a nice, casual conversation with him, he looks like he's extremely intimidated by me and only manages to come out with nervous chuckles.

"Aww, look who's managed to get out of beds! Our midgets!" Black called out when we reached the great hall.

"Don't you two look cute together?" Potter said, catching onto Black's stupid joke.

I stuck my tongue out to them and grabbed some toast, sitting down next to Lily.

"Morning, Andy." She said while I was chewing my breakfast.

"Mornin'," I greeted them through a mouthful of toast.

"You missed a good show earlier," Zoey said. I saw Lily roll her eyes next to me.

"Wha' happened?" I asked. The toast tasted especially good this morning.

"Stop talking with food in your mouth and I'll tell you," Zoey scowled at me. I gave her an apologetic grin and nodded for her to go on. "Alright, so we got here a while ago and immediately noticed there were only Gryffindors in the Hall. Which was weird, cause they were all sitting in different tables. What's more, they didn't seem too happy," she grinned.

"It turned out, they weren't Gryffindors at all. _Someone_ had cast a transfiguring spell in the doorstep that changed everybody's clothes into Gryffindor's colors. Including the teachers."

Zoey was chuckling at the memory, and I couldn't help but laugh either. Even Lily's mouth was curling upwards, although she was putting a lot of effort into not showing it to anyone.

"Slughorn and the other heads of houses were furious, but they couldn't really do anything cause at that point Dumbledore was laughing as well," Zoey was now openly laughing.

Our headmaster was the weirdest wizard I had ever met. He was old, and wise and very respected. A classic Gandalf. Not that I ever read the book. But he also had a sense of humor, something I'd come to like about the old man. I could easily imagine him laughing along at the Marauders' joke, while the rest of the staff was already planning detentions.

Because indeed, there was no question as to who must've been behind the prank.

"Did take them a while, you know," I said, pointing at the said Marauders sitting a few seats from us. "It's already been two weeks and we haven't seen a single prank from them."

"You know, Dacres, it's really un-polite to point someone with your finger. Especially when you have butter in the said finger." Black said mockingly, when he noticed us looking at them.

I looked at my hand and saw indeed a big piece of butter stuck on my index finger. I quickly wiped it on the table.

"We were just talking about your newest production," I then said. "About time, too."

"What can I say, gotta make sure nobody steals our throne," Black gave us a cocky grin.

I lifted my eyebrow at him and chuckled.

"I don't think you have to worry about that. There's no one as annoying as you in this school, I can assure you."

"I assume you're not counting yourself?" he said, smirking.

"Ha-ha you're so funny, Black," I said and grabbed a bite of what must've been at least my fourth toast.

"Hey guys, we're already late for Herbology. Let's go! Andy, you can finish that toast on our way." Lily said, standing up. The rest of us quickly gathered our things and hurried after her.

"You know, you can downplay it all you want, Lily," Zoey nudged her on the side when we were walking towards the class. "You found it funny, too. I saw you laughing."

"Yeah, well, don't' tell Potter that!" Lily exclaimed in a hushed tone. "He'll never get off my back if the word gets out that I think he's funny."

She had a point. We promised to keep our mouths shut.

* * *

It was again one of those extremely boring lessons. Herbology wasn't one of my favourite subjects, either. Although it was nowadays starting to look like none of them were. I _was_ grateful that we usually got to actually do stuff in this class, rather than just write. It was just too bad the stuff we got to do included plants. Plants didn't like me.

For my misfortune, Zoë absolutely loved Herbology. Plants loved her. She could take a nasty little baby-Mandrake and grow it into a well-behaved adult in record time. I was pretty sure she would become one of those weird herbalists when she left Hogwarts, finding out a billion different ways to use birch leaves.

So, Zoë being united with Lily, Lupin and Pettigrew to study plants left me alone with Potter and Black. Well, this should be fun, I thought, when we were given instructions what to do with the weird shrubbery that were apparently called Flutterby Bushes.

"You know what we haven't done yet this year?" Black asked, popping his head out from behind a particularly big bush.

"Blown up the Slytherin common room?" I replied while I poked the leaves of my own bush lazily.

"Yeah, well, that too, but I don't think that even good old Dumby would let us get away with that." He said and went on. "We haven't had the big annual Welcome to Hogwarts -party!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Potter exclaimed, "We really should throw one!"

"Yeah you should!" I said jumping now on my seat in excitement.

It had been a tradition ever since our second year that in the beginning of every semester the Marauders throw a big party in the Gryffindor Common Room. Last year they had had the clever idea to spike the punch, which led to couple of second years vomiting the whole night. That was when they decided that the next party was going to be only for people in our year and older.

"So, when're you gonna do it?" I asked. A good party was something I was always ready for.

"Well that depends. When are we going to get the stuff we need?" Black said, shooting a questioning look at Potter.

"I could pick some up this afternoon?" He said after a while of thinking.

"So we could throw the party next Friday, that's only two days away!" Black said, clearly getting excited.

"Sounds like a plan! We gotta make it the best party ever, right mate?" Potter exclaimed, and they clapped their hands together in the air.

I chuckled at them. Then my curiosity won over me and I had to ask. "Where do you guys get this 'stuff`' anyways?"

"Ask us no questions and we tell you no lies, Dacres." Potter said, both him and Black smirking smugly.

* * *

"A welcome party? Finally! I was already thinking they're not gonna throw one this year!" Zoë exclaimed.

It was an afternoon and the lessons had already ended. We, meaning Zoë, Lily and I, were lounging in our dormitory, not really doing anything. I had just told them about this Friday and they both seemed pretty excited.

"You think they're gonna spike the punch again after what happened to those boys last year?" Lily asked, trying to sound responsible. I had a suspicion she wouldn't exactly mind if they did do it again, but I wasn't going to voice it out loud. Lily had a reputation to uphold.

"It seemed like they are. I think they're just gonna say that it's not allowed to at least first, second and third graders to come this time." I said, shrugging.

"Yeah that sounds pretty reasonable." Zoë said from her bed and then smirked wickedly. "Besides, it's no fun anymore if there isn't at least little bit of alcohol."

"Amen to that!" I laughed.

"Okay yeah, you guys are probably right," Lily chuckled. "But I'm telling you, I'm _not_ going to touch those fire whiskey shots anymore! I'll just stick to the punch this year."

Zoë and I were currently rolling on our beds laughing. Last year Lily had ended up stumbling on her bed when her feet hadn't been able to carry her anymore, and singing something unrecognizable in a very loud voice.

"Aww, is our little Lilykins having bad memories?" I said trying to control my laughter.

"I don't think she's got any memories at all." Zoë said and we both lost it again.

Lily was trying to sulk but wasn't very successful with it, so she shot back, "Well, you guys weren't that wise either. I remember _someone_ dancing on the tables all night long."

"Hey, that hurt!" I cried out. Yeah, dancing was an absolute no-no for me, so doing that in front of half of the school wasn't really one of my greatest memories.

"Tit for tat." She said triumphantly.

"Yeah, that was a fun night," Zoë said, reminiscing. "Should we make this one even better?"

"Absolutely!" I said, thrusting my fist in the air. Both of my friends gave me a weird look and I silently removed my fist back to the level of my body.

* * *

At lunchtime next morning, everybody had already heard about the party. Every one of the four Marauders, even Pettigrew, was constantly surrounded by a group of students making sure they were getting invited. Lily, Zoe and I, having already secured our place, were having great fun watching Lupin try to explain to a couple of first years, why they couldn't be invited.

"Well, I can't tell them we're just going to drink all night!" He said, spreading his arms defensively when he saw the three of us laughing.

"Okay, that's it," Black said in frustration and stood up on his chair. "All of you midgets, that means every single first, second or third grader," He pointed at few groups of smaller students, "I'm sorry to let you down, but this party's not for you guys. See you in a couple of years!"

A few groups left the table, muttering to themselves and shooting angry glances towards Sirius, but speeding up when they saw him watching.

I chuckled when he came down from his chair.

"That was kinda harsh." I said to him.

"It was the only way!" He said, defensively, "They would've just been on our way tomorrow."

I shrugged, turning to Lily and Zoë, who were currently discussing something in a low voice. Lily looked like she was trying to see someone.

"What're you guys whispering about?" I asked trying to see what Lily was looking at.

"Nothing special," Zoë started, but Lily spoke over her.

"Zoë's got a crush on Leonard Jordan," she explained.

"Thanks," Zoë said sarcastically, giving Lily a dirty look.

"The Ravenclaw one, in sixth year?" I asked, now, too, searching the tables with my look.

"Not bad," I said, when I spotted the tall, black boy with a little overgrown hair and pretty big muscles. "When did this happen?"

"We hung out a couple of days ago when you guys had Arithmancy and I had nothing to do." She told. " He's got a great sense of humour, you know, plus he's in the Ravenclaw quidditch team." Zoë smirked.

"Is he coming to the party?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, I guess so." Zoë shrugged.

"Great, you'll get him drunk enough and he's all yours." I said, grinning.

"Andy, shut up" Lily chuckled, "We don't need your advice on this, thank you very much."

"Just kidding, you're gonna _charm_ him with your _natural charisma_." I said to Zoë in an overly sweet tone.

"Just quit talking, okay?" She laughed.

"What am I hearing, is someone finally getting Dacres to shut up?" Black's voice came behind me.

"Not gonna happen," I replied. "But I a gonna make you shut up if you won't…shut up."

"Smooth," he chuckled. "What are you guys talking about, anyways?"

"Girl talk," Lily said smiling sweetly at him. Zoë gave her the death glare again.

"With Dacres? Good luck with that." He said and I stuck my tongue out to him. "Come on, Andy, they don't need us to disturb them." Black threw his arm around my shoulders to lead me out.

Lily and Zoë were laughing and I turned to Sirius, trying to make my face seem intimidating.

"You know, I'm seriously considering punching you right now." I said as we walked out of the great hall.

He just laughed before asking innocently, "What did I do?"

I shook my head, defeated. "Whatever."

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, first of all, thanks for reading!**

 **Second of all, I apologise for this chapter and the next one in advance. I edited the original very little and debated for a long time if I should just re-write the whole thing. I don't like the girls' attitude towards alcohol when it comes to this party. The reason I eventually decided to leave it like it was is this: They're 15. They're bound to act juvenile when it comes to alcohol. I guess I gotta accept that 16-year-old me was the expert here.**


	4. Chapter 4

"No, Andy! You're _not_ putting on those pants tonight!"

"Why not?"

"Well, to start with, they're at least three years old!"

It was seven o'clock on Friday night. Zoey, Lily and I were getting ready for the party. Zoey and I were having the same fight we had every time there was a reason to dress up; Zoey was helping me pick an outfit and kept suggesting different variations the newest fashion magazine offered, while I insisted on wearing my good old baggy pants.

"Well, since I haven't grown a damn inch during those three years, I might as well take the advantage of it!" I shot back at her last comment.

Zoey shook her head, taking the pants from my hands and throwing them on her bed.

"Nope, the pants are not an option. Come on Lily, back me up here!"

Lily looked up lazily from her bed, where she had been combing her hair.

"I gotta take Zoey's side on this one, Andy. Besides, you look good in those jeans just wear them."

Zoey grinned at me triumphantly.

"Well, since you're all against me, I guess I have no choice," I snorted and bent over my suitcase to look for a shirt.

I usually didn't listen to my friends when it came to clothing, but even I tried to look nice for a party, and Zoey was, with her enormous wardrobe, more than helpful.

"What about this one?" She asked, throwing me a long green top of hers. I pulled it on and looked at myself in the mirror.

"I guess that'll do." I shrugged, sitting beside the mirror and starting to put on make-up.

After I was done I made one pathetic attempt at taming my hair, but gave up on it pretty quickly. My hair was weird. It was extremely frizzy, yet not at all curly. It kind of made me look constantly like I'd just been electrocuted. And it was jet black, courtesy of my Slavic mother. From my British father I'd gotten nothing but freckles and the tendency to get burned just thinking about the sun. Combine black hair and pale skin and you don't have to wonder who lost the gene pool lottery.

I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall of the dorm and saw it was almost eight. The party should've probably started by now.

"You guys ready to go?"

"Yup, let's go drink our body weight." Zoey laughed.

"Except for Andy who's probably going to down more." Lily added.

"Hah, you know you're just jealous because I hold my alcohol better than you." I said, grinning at her smugly. There wasn't even an ounce of truth behind my words and Lily knew it. No 15-year-old was good at holding their alcohol, and I was by no means an exception.

When we arrived downstairs the party was indeed on a good go. People were dancing in the middle of the room, music was playing pretty loud, and few already-reddish eyes told us that the punch had already been spiked.

Zoey, Lily and I found ourselves heading straight to the drink table. We helped us mugs of liquor and took seats from one of the couches. We had sat there only for a few minutes before we heard two familiar voices approaching us.

"Hey, it's Dacres!" Sirius Black shouted a little louder than necessary.

"And Evans!" James Potter added with a same decibel.

"Thanks for remembering the third one," Zoey pointed out sarcastically.

"Almost got you worried, did we, Frost?" Black shouted, smiling, when he sat on the back of the couch next to Zoey and reached to throw his arm around her.

"It's nice to see you, too, Black, but we're not deaf you don't have to shout." I said, looking up at him from the couch. He skilfully slung himself down to the couch next to me. I chuckled when I smelled the alcohol and added, "Started the drinking a little earlier, did you boys?"

"Maybe," he smirked and turned to shout at Potter, "Come on, Prongsie! Let's continue our victorious march!"

Potter lifted his mug at his friend and they waved their dramatic goodbyes to us. All three of us burst out laughing.

We sat there for a good while, talking and laughing with people who happened to pass by. After about an hour of this, Zoey and Lily got up.

"Where are you going?" I asked, confused.

"We, meaning all _three_ of us, are going dancing." Lily pointed at me.

I shook my head. "Nope, no way I'm yet that drunk."

"Come _on_ Andy, don't be so dull! You're gonna join us eventually anyway!" Zoey said in frustration.

"Not this time I'm not. You go, I'll catch up with you later." I said.

They looked at each other, shrugged and headed to the dance floor. Once I was left alone I stood up, deciding not just to stay there alone. I spotted Potter a few metres away from me and made my way through the crowd to him.

"Hey there, Potty, how's it going?" I smiled at him. He turned his eyes to face mine and I tried to suppress my laughter when I realized that he was having a hard time steadying his gaze.

"Dacres!" He shouted and spread his arms to give me a hug. "Hello my little Slovakian friend!"

"Well hello my big, drunken, British friend." I laughed, hugging him back quickly.

"Having a good time? Where'd you lose your little friends?" He asked.

"They abandoned me to go dancing," I put on a sad face and sighed over-dramatically.

"Well, no worries, I'll be happy to keep you company." He said and offered me a fire whiskey shot. "To Hogwarts!" he exclaimed and drank down his own one.

"To Hogwarts," I laughed and drank mine. "How many of these `to Hogwarts's` have you had?" I asked, giving him a pointed look.

"More than your little body could hold I'd say," he said, patting my head.

"Oh, really?" I said challengingly, "And how can you know that I haven't already drunk as much as you?"

"You wanna bet?" He said lifting his eyebrows. "We've got enough to drink here, let's see who gives up first?"

I looked at the table full of fire whiskey shots. My mind was trying to tell me to be reasonable: I could never beat Potter in a competition like this, not to mention how stupid and childish the whole thing was. Too bad I wasn't currently listening what my mind had to say, so I stuck my hand out and he shook it.

"Deal!"

We took seats by the table, both of us collecting a row of drinks in front of us. Quite a few people had turned to look at our little merry-making, and they were now observing us keenly, eager to see what was going to happen next. I looked at Potter who grinned at me, downing his first glass. I did the same and moved to the second glass, and then another, and another… After I stopped counting I started to soon feel nauseous. I realized I had to stop. I shook my head, trying to keep my mind in focus. Then I looked at Potter across the table. He had stopped drinking too, looking quite disorganized.

"Who won?" I asked.

He shook his head and laughed. "No idea. Draw?"

I gave a giggly laugh and nodded.

"Sounds good. We're both equally tough."

"Nah, I'll always be tougher than you anyways. You know that." He said, slurring a little with the words.

Since I couldn't figure anything wise to say, I just started to pull myself up, only to find it an extremely hard thing to do. The alcohol was making its way to my head already, and I was losing my focus little by little. When I got up, I felt my feet sway below me and I had to take support from the table to keep my balance. I turned to look at Potter but he was nowhere in sight. Instead, I saw Black watching my attempt to stand up with an amused expression on his face.

"Need a little help there?" He asked, grinning.

"Shut up, you," I sputtered. "Where've you been?"

"You know, business," He said, winking.

I snorted, taking a few steps towards him. Sadly enough, I lost my balance half way through and began to fall down. When I was about a foot away from the floor I felt someone grab me and pull me up. I looked up to see Black looking at me, confused.

"Jeez, Andy, what got you into this condition?" It took me a while to get that he was using my first name. It sounded weird.

"Your stupid little friend," I answered. I guess I struggled with the words a little since he gave a laugh before asking,

"James got you drunk? I thought he was still after Evans."

"No, not like that, we had a competition," I slurred, "not a really wise one."

He laughed at this. "You wanna lie down on the couch?"

I shook my head violently and tried to look more sober than I really was. "No, I'm fine! Come on, let's go dance!" I exclaimed.

I took few steps forward and, again, found it difficult to keep my balance. I grabbed Black's t-shirt not to fall again.

"And the couch it is." He laughed and took my hand to keep me up.

"Tell me, Black, how come you managed to sober up so fast?" I asked, when we were making our way towards the couch.

"I never did, I'm just not as wasted as you." He said, shaking his head, still wearing an amused grin on his face.

When we reached the couch I saw Lily and Zoey had returned from the dance floor. I practically jumped (well, as far as I could) over to them and gave them a huge hug.

"Hej! Priateľu!" I shouted to their ears.

"You're speaking Slovak again, Andy," Zoey said, looking at me, amused.

"Am I? Oops, sorry," I said smiling sheepishly. Apparently I tend to do that when I'm drinking.

"Found the liquor table, did we?" Zoey asked, smirking at me.

"What did you do to her, Black?" Lily said lifting an eyebrow at him.

"Don't blame me," he laughed, "she was like this when I found her."

Suddenly Zoey got up and tugged at Lily's arm.

"Look, there he is!" She said excitedly, pointing at something tall and black that I vaguely recognized as Leonard Jordan. "I'm gonna go say him hey, you coming with me?" She tugged Lily's arm before adding, "Andy's not gonna be of any help in this condition."

"Hey!" I yelled from the couch when Lily nodded.

"Sorry, girl, gotta go! You got Black here to take care of you." She said, waving at me.

I turned to Black who had sat next to me. "Stupid brats, calling themselves friends."

He laughed and reached over to ruffle my hair.

"Hey! Only Potter is allowed to do that!" I protested. Sirius gave me a weird look.

"Why's that?"

"Well, because he won't…stop." I shook my head when I realized that that didn't make any sense.

I took a look around me to see who else was sitting near me, just to get something to do, and spotted Vicky Milthrope, also known as Vicky The Queen, also known as a person I hated dearly and who without a doubt felt the same way about me. She was talking to a guy who, according to my memory, was a Gryffindor sixth year. Something Buckley I guessed.

"Hey, Vicky, my contemptuous dorm-mate, how're you doing?" I shouted out in the spur of the moment.

She looked at me with a look of pure disgust, trying to return to her conversation.

"Come on, show your new friend one of your ah-so-clever insults." I said, a little drunkenly perhaps, sneering at her sweetly.

The Buckley guy looked first at me and then at Vicky with a look of both bewilderment and amusement. Vicky looked like she could kill me at any moment, but just walked away, dragging him with her. I laughed, taking delight of the thought of having made that princess uncomfortable.

"What're you laughing at?" asked Black from the seat next to me. He had been talking to a dorm mate of his, Cole Derricks, but both of them had apparently been startled at the sudden burst of laughter.

"Queen Vicky," I replied, and when they still seemed confused I just waved it off. "Never mind. You're Derricks!" I suddenly exclaimed turning to him.

"Yeah I am, four years on the same house and now you figure it out?" He asked, chuckling lightly.

"No, no I knew that," I said, trying to steady my gaze. Both of the guys laughed.

"You gotta excuse our little Andy, she's just a bit wasted," Black said throwing his right arm around my shoulders.

I was trying to figure out a smart answer when I suddenly felt extremely tired. My eyelids drew close and I vaguely noticed my head starting to drop. It landed on his shoulder.

I had no idea if it'd been one minute or one hour, but at some point I felt I was being picked up and carried off to somewhere. As the person lowered me down to a couch, I fluttered my eyes open. I found myself staring at Black's grinning face. I suddenly felt I had to say something to him, and I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

The last thing I heard was him chuckle and wish me good night.

* * *

The first time I woke up it was still night and the room was dark. I blinked a few times, trying to sort out where I was. When my eyes got used to the darkness, I started to make out the shapes of chairs and couches, and people sleeping in them. I was, apparently, in the Gryffindor common room. Fuzzy memories from last night started to fill my mind, along with the growing urge to vomit. My drunken state was starting to change into a nice hangover. I groaned, trying to keep my food and everything else inside me, determined not to throw up.

After a while of wondering what had happened last night, the first clear image to pop in my head was Sirius Black. I frowned at this memory, not understanding what it was about. My frown turned into a smile when I remembered how I had fallen asleep. _He took care of me,_ was the thought that filled my mind, when I realized that a blanket was wrapped around me and a bucket brought next to me (for a potential vomiting I guess). Sure, it wasn't much trouble, but Black wasn't one of the guys to be expected to do something like this. For some reason it made me feel happy and my smile widened.

Whoa, wait a minute! What the heck was I smiling for? This was _Sirius Black._ It wasn't a good thing to be thinking about him like this now, was it? I almost groaned out loud when I remembered what I had said to him before passing out. Well, I guess my weird habit of speaking Slovak was a good thing for once. Imagine what he would've thought if he'd realized I'd just suddenly out of nowhere told the guy that I actually found him `really cute`. I just hope he doesn't own a Slovak-English dictionary.

I shook my head violently to erase the thought from my head. My mind was still fuzzed from the alcohol and I wasn't thinking clearly. Still feeling exhausted, I allowed my head to sink into a pillow, not even considering the option of climbing up the stairs to my own bed. I lied there for just a couple of minutes before falling asleep again.

* * *

When I woke up few hours later it was already morning. The common room was starting to get filled with people, some of them waking up on the couch like me, some climbing down the stairs from their dormitories.

"Well, hello, Andy!" An overly cheerful voice came from somewhere near my couch.

"Having a nice morning?" The other one asked sweetly.

I opened my eyes to see Lily and Zoey take a seat next to my feet.

"Mornin' guys," I muttered.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, at the same time acknowledging that I must've looked really _rosy_ at the moment. Last night's make-up must've spread into panda-like black circles around my eyes, which, given the way they stung, had to be red and blood-shot by now. And I didn't even want to get started on the stink of old whiskey even I smelt on me.

Both of my friends were looking at me like they were expecting me to say something. I didn't really have an explanation, so I just shrugged before stating,

"Well, it looks like I pulled a Lily with those fire whiskey shots."

Zoey laughed and Lily snorted, though both of them were nodding and smiling the same time.

"Great idea that competition with Potter." Zoey grinned.

"Yeah, not exactly my brightest moments," I said, giving them an ashamed smile.

"Speak of the devil," Lily said and nodded towards the staircase of the boys' dorm where Potter came down, accompanied by Black.

The latter smirked when he saw us. They walked to the couch.

"Look who's finally gotten up!" Black said, sitting at the armrest of the couch near my head.

I smiled at him tiredly, and turned to look at Potter who still remained silent.

"High five for the toughest guys in the school," I said, lifting my hand and giving him a sarcastic smile, which he returned, clapping my hand dryly.

The rest of the guys, Lily, Zoey and Black were starting a casual conversation and were soon joined by Lupin and Pettigrew. I staid silent, letting my mind wander back to last nights events. Pretty soon, my thoughts about this certain Marauder sitting next to me started to sink back into me. Being still unable to tell where they came from, I felt totally confused. I was suddenly very aware of the the way I looked and smelled. That alone should've alerted me; I wasn't usually the one to be concerned about such facts.

"Hey, Dacres," Sirius said suddenly, snapping me back from my thoughts. I felt my shoulder tingle when he rested his hand on it. "What was that thing you muttered to me right before you dozed off?"

I gave him a confused look.

"Yeah, in that language of yours, Slovak?"

 _Oh,_ I thought, realizing what he meant, _that._ Not good.


End file.
